Rookie Abeltshauser scores, but Sharks lose to Bruins

PROVIDENCE — Konrad Abeltshauser would love to have the summer of 2014 be as short as this past one.

The Sharks' rookie defenseman was a member of the 2012-13 Memorial Cup champion Halifax Mooseheads, who captured the coveted junior championship on May 26. In that game, a 6-4 victory over Portland, Abeltshauser scored the game's first goal, one of seven he had in the Mooseheads' 17-game postseason run.

Abeltshauser had the only goal for Worcester in the Sharks' 3-1 loss to the Providence Bruins in a preseason game here on Saturday afternoon. Worcester finished its exhibition schedule 1-2, and Abeltshauser had two of the Sharks' five goals in the preseason.

"I guess I'm mostly offensive-oriented," he said, "but I'll do whatever the team needs me to do and whatever the coaches want me to do."

Last year, Abeltshauser had 54 points and only 22 penalty minutes during the regular season, a pretty substantial difference for a defenseman. Usually, the numbers are reversed.

"I'm a pretty nice guy," he said. "I don't take a lot of penalties. I'm pretty good at keeping my composure and not taking retaliation penalties, or unnecessary penalties."

Abeltshauser is willing to risk a trip to the penalty box to prevent a scoring chance, and did yesterday with a third-period foul.

His goal on Saturday came at 4:51 of the first period on a shot from the left point that looked like it changed direction on the way into the net. The Sharks were able to protect that lead until the game was more than half over, but the Bruins scored three times in the final 30 minutes.

Wayne Simpson beat J.P. Anderson at 10:54 of the second period, then Zach Trotman gave Providence the lead with a power-play goal at 17:14. The Bruins' final goal was an empty-netter by former Sharks captain Mike Moore in the closing seconds.

With Abeltshauser leading the way, three of Worcester's five preseason goals were scored by defensemen. That sounds a little ominous for a team that has been offensively challenged the last couple of seasons.

"I think we'll be all right," coach Roy Sommer said. "Actually, we did a lot of good things (Saturday). We'll be getting another six guys down (from San Jose), and that's gonna help us a lot."

Worcester would love to have teenager Tomas Hertl arrive as part of that package, but the Sharks don't look like they will do that, at least to open the season.

They could get Bracken Kearns and John McCarthy, both with 20-goal seasons to their credit, and Freddie Hamilton and Matt Nieto would help up front.

If Worcester gets Matt Tennyson back on defense, he would also have an impact on the Sharks' offensive potential.

Along with the occasional goal, the game featured a trio of scraps.

Providence's Tyler Randell took on Sharks rookie Colin Bowman at 14:03 of the second period and landed several punches to the face. Jimmy Bonneau responded early in the third period and squared off with Randell in a bout that was more of a defensive battle.

In between, veteran Rob Davison fought with Igor Gongalsky.

And in between Saturday and Oct. 19, the Sharks will play one game, the regular-season opener on Oct. 12 in Springfield. So they have some time to find some goals.

Shark Bites

Worcester made roster moves involving six players. The Sharks released forwards Louie Caporusso and Christian Ouellet, defensemen Josh Kidd and Connor Goggin, and goaltender Tyler Beskorowany. Defenseman Steven Tarasuk was loaned to San Francisco of the ECHL. That leaves 25 players on the roster with more reassignments expected shortly. … Eriah Hayes did not play Friday night or Saturday. He returned home to Minnesota to attend to a personal matter. … Worcester will open the regular season a week later than most teams, and word is that the Sharks will use the off weekend to revisit Spruce Island, Maine, for a couple of days roughing it. Reportedly, Spruce Island is a lot like Greenland, but not as warm. … There was a huge crowd for a preseason game with several thousand fans in attendance. … The Sharks and Bruins will not play each other again until Nov. 9 at the DCU Center.